Garment pressing machine



9, 9 G. H. RAWLINSON 2,126,577

. GARMENT PRESSING MACHINE I Original Filed Nov. 50, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 III m INVENTOR l E 1 I GEORGE M mwA/A/so/v ATTORNEY 1938. G. H, RAWLINSON 2,126,577

GARMENT PRES S ING MACHINE Original Filed Nov. 30, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Fl 5- 11 GEO/P65 H. RA wu/vso/v ATTORNEY Aug" 9, 1938. a. H. RAWLINSON GARMENT PRESSING MACHINE Original Filed Nov. 30, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 I I 36 V INVENTOR @505 H PA WL/NSO/V g/ j ATTORNEY Aug. 9, 1938. c. H. RAWL'INSON GARMENT PRESSING MACHINE 4 sheets-sheet 4 Original Filed Nov. 30, 1935 INVENTOR GEOPGf HIP/IWL/ /VJUA/ BY ATTORNEY 1 Patented 9, 1938 UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE PRESSING George H. Rawlinson, Portland, Oreg.

Application November so, 1935, Serial No. 52,366

, Renewed February 15, 1937 -11 Claims. (01, 223-57) This invention relates to pressing machines,-

perhaps more j correctly designated as ironing machinea'ior laundries, useful in finishing open front garments such as waiters and surgeon's coats, shirts and the like and in this specification and the claims appended thereto the word chine that will finish press the entire bodyoi a ,coat-like garment in one operation.

A further object of the present invention is 20 a machine which, while pressing a garment of the character described in one operation, willgive it a rounded form, more nearly like the form of a wearer than is possible with the sub: stantially flat. press of the known art.

25 A further object of this invention is the great saving of time and the; very considerable saving of power oioperation since these presses are commonly worked by compressed air, only one motor filling of which is required with my in-gf. 3o vention as against four orlmore with the contemporary art.

These and many other objects which will be apparent to those skilled in the use and manufacture of laundry pressing machines, will be apparent from this specification, the drawings accompanying the same, and more particularly set forth in the claims appended hereto.

Drawings form a part of and accompany this specification, in which,-- v I 40 Fig. I is an elevation, partly in section on line I--I of Fig. 111, showing the press elements and the garment forming buck hereinafter described and illustrating a suitable operating means for the press elements; 45 -Fig. II is a horizontal section on the line ill-l1 oi Fig. 1;. Fig. III is a. section on the line Ill-III of Fig. i: and

Fig. IV is an end elevation looking from the 50 left of the structure shown in part in Fig. HI, except that the garment shown draped on the body form or garment forming Touch in Fig. HI between the press elements is on the icompanion buck in Fig. TV which latter has been shifted to 5g pressing position between the press elements,

and illustrating the press elements in their closed or pressing position as hereinafter more fully described.

The drawings are illustrative only, not intended for working drawings, and are diagram- 5 matic in part as will be apparent upon inspection.

- In the drawings, l is a base member adapted to rest upon a floor of a factory. A frame consists of-the uprights 2 and 3 which are mounted 1o uponand made rigid with the base by the bolts 2a. and 3a. The uprights 2 and 3 are tied to gether across the top by the channel 4, which is made rigid with the uprights 2 and 3 by the bolts 2b and 3b.

Mounted within the frame are press elements 5 and 6, the press element 5 being swivel mounted as at 1 to the upright '3 and. additionally supported by springs, such as 8 and 9, to afiord relative stability thereto, yet flexible enough to achieve. uniform reaction over the surface of the buck M. The press element 6 is reciprocable with respect to the'upright 2 which carries it and issupported on guides 9 and In working within sockets 9a. and Illa. and is reciprocable to pressing position under. the influence of an air motor ll, working through the toggle levers I2 and IS, a construction which is so well known that it'is deemed to require no further explanation except to point out that the toggle lever i2. is pivotally attached to the upright 2 by the pivot i211, and the toggle lever' i3 is pivotally attached to the press element 6 by the pivot Ma and both of these elements are hinged on the pivot No to which likewise is pivotally attached the pushrod ilib of the motor H. For a detailed description of the motor see Patent No. 1,965,106, dated July 3, 1934. This or any' other adequate air motor may be used. Upon exhaust of the air 40 motor ill the pressing element 6 returns to open positiomFig. ii, under the influence of the spring Md. Positioned centrally between the press elements 5) and it when in their normal or open position as shown in Fig. I, is a hollow body form buck it, more completely described in detail in my copending application, Ser. No. 90,656'fl1ed July 15, 1936. The body form buck is so desighated to distinguish it from the silhouette type of pressing form commonly used in stocking finishing presses between a pair of fiat press elements.

The body form buck i i iamounted on a carriage it which is reciprocabie on a plane normal to the plane of reciprocation of the press element 6.

Forming a part of the carriage I5 is a resilient mounting for the buck I 4 comprising the springs l6,,guide rods l1; guideways I8 and a base for the buck l9, that is movable within the guideway l8. This resilient mounting permits a lateral movement of the buck ll when the same is contacted by the press element 6 which moves the buck l4 into conformable contact with the press element 5 which is shown to be accomplished in Fig. IV.

The press elements 5 and 6 have curvilinear pressing faces, highly polished as is known in the art, and are shaped to conform in every detail to the surface outline of the buck l4. They are shown to be provided with heating spaces such as 5| and GI within which live steam will be used according to the known art and no detailed description of this feature is deemed necessary.

Also the buck M will be made sufficiently rigid by internal ribbing, not shown, or in any other manner, to withstand the load imposed by the press elements 5 and 6, so that no sensible compression of the framework of the buck M will take place. Gross pressures of from three to six thousand pounds will be required, according to the finish desired on the garment, whether or not they are starched and according to other conditions well known in the laundry art.

The frame of the buck M will preferably be covered by a perforated rubber jacket Ma and the outer surface of the rubber jacket will be covered by an air permeable fabric coat' Mb, the,

purpose of which is more clearly explained in the copending application hereinbefore referred to. A garment may be draped over the buck M as shown in Fig. III and brought to smooth conformity with its outer surface and fastened in place by pins such as I and M2 in Fig. III, though it will preferably be held in place by vacuum as set forth in the copending application referred to.

The word drapedf is used in the narrow and restricted sense of smooth and close conformity of a garment on the outer surface of the buck.

The carriage I5 is mounted in a bed 25, within which it is retained by the retainers 26 and 21 and is selectively reciprocable by the air motor 28 supplied with air under pressure through the conduit 29 from a source not shown and selectively controlled by an appropriate valve means, diagrammatically illustrated at 30.

This diagrammatically illustrates an expansive type reciprocable cylinder and piston motor provided with a trunnion mounting at 3| and attached to the carriage l5, by the pin 32, which engages the arm 33, a part of the carriage l5.

Stops 34 and 35 diagrammatically illustrate means for regulating travel of the carriage l5 so that the buck II will be afforded close registration with the press elements 5 and 6.

The relatively movable support of the press element 5 provided by the swivel mounting I, and the supporting springs 8, will permit the buck H to first conform in detail to the press element 5 and later the press element 5 to move slightly if necessary to conform to the buck. This feature will also take care of any uneven compression of the rubber cover of the buck H.

As shown in Figs. II and III the pressing machine is preferably constructed with two body form bucks which will be identical in outer shape and general construction, mounting and in every other way except that they are mounted near the opposite ends of the carriage l5; hence upon reciprocation of the carriage i5 they are alternately brought in registration with the press elements 5 and 6' which are thereupon clo'sed upon the buck containing the garment draped as shown in Fig. III and the garment is pressed for a short period of time, twenty seconds or more, and in the meantime the operator is removing agarment previously pressed from the buck that is outside of the jaws and replacing it with a garment that will be pressed in the next operation.

It is intended that the sleeves and collars of garments shall be finish pressed on a machine of the old type prior to being draped upon the bucks of my new pressing machine, so that when the body is pressed as hereinbefore described, the finish pressing of the garment will be completed.

To facilitate pressing the garment and to improve the finish, the interior hollow of the body form buck will be in communication with a vacuum source diagrammatically represented by the numeral 50 and the influence of the vacuum will be felt on the surface of the buck I4 through the fabric Nb and the rubber coating Ha through the perforations such as 8| of which a more complete description will be found in the copending application hereinbefore referred to.

In considering this machine, that part of it shown to the right in Fig. I will be regarded as the back side of the machine and will set adjacent a wall in a factory; or rows of the machines may be grouped with this side facing each other with a space between.

That part of it shown to the left in Fig. I will be considered the front of the machine and suitable control apparatus, not shown, will be mounted thereon, consisting of valve apparatus for controlling the reciprocating carriage, the air motor and the other working parts.

In using the machine the operator will step from one side to the other upon which will be arranged baskets containing unfinished garments and a table upon which the finished pressed garments may be placed after removal from the machine.

As the operator finishes draping a buck that is free of the jaws, a step takes him to the control where the press is opened and the carriage reciprocated. Then the press is closed again upon the newly placed buck and the operator steps to the buck that has just emerged from the machine and redrapes it after removing the finished pressed garment, repeating the operation from time to time. Thus complete safety for the operator is assured since the controls cannot be reached when the operator is in position to be caught between the press elements.

I do not intend to confine myself to the structure shown, but wish to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims. What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,--

1. In a pressing machine, a pair of upright pressing jaws, means for opening and closing one jaw with respect to a body form buck between said pressing jaws, a buck carriage that is made reciprocable in a plane normal to the movement of the jaws, a buck mounting thereon that is reciprocable in a direction normal to the direction of movement of the buck carriage and a pair of body form bucks mounted in spaced relationship on the carriage for alternate registry positioning between the jaws.

2. The combination according to claim 1 charfor lateral movement on the carriage to permit substantially uniform pressure on the body surfaces thereof by both jaws.

3. In a pressing machine, a frame, a pair of opposed upright pressing jaws mounted therein, a relatively fixed swivel mounting for one jaw and a mounting for reciprocation for the other jaw, curvilinear pressing faces for both jaws to register with and surround a buck between the jaws, a carriage reciprocable in a direction normal to the direction of movement of the said movable jaw buck mountings reciprocable across the carriage and a plurality of bucks mounted on the carriage for alternative placement in registration with the jaws.

4. In a pressing machine, a pair of duplicate garment forming bucks, a reciprocable carriage upon which the bucks are mounted, buck mountings reciprocable across the carriage, a pair of oppositely faced pressing jaws between which the bucks are movable into and out of pressing relationship to the jaws, means for working one jaw and means for reciprocating the carriage.

5. A pressing machine for open front garments,

comprising a body form buck adapted to hold a garment in draped position thereon, opposed press elements shaped to substantially enclose the buck and form press a draped garment thereon, a relatively fixed mounting for one press element and reciprocable power operated mounting means for the other press element, a carriage for the said buck that is adapted to reciprocate the same into and out of pressing position between the press elements and an auxiliary carriage for the buck on the first named carriage that is movable under the influence of the power operated press element to bring the buck into registry with the relatively fixed press element.

6. The combination as characterized in claim 5 and including a spring sustained swivel mount ing for the relatively fixed press element.

7. The combination as characterized in claim 5 and including automatic means for positioning the buck substantially midway between the press elements upon release of pressing force by the power operated press element.

8. In a pressing machine of the characterdescribed, a pair of pressing jaws, body form bucks alternately registrable with the jaws, a main carriage for the bucks that is reciprocable in a direction normal to the direction of movement of the jaws and a pair of cross carriages mounted on the main carriage that are reciprocable at substantially right angles to the plane of movement of said main carriage.

9. A'garment press comprising a pair of concave faced opposed vertical jaws, a pair of conforming bucks mounted for alternate placement between the jaws, a reciprocating main carriage for-the bucks and a separate cross slide carriage for each buck that is arranged to permit lateral movement of the buck under the influence of pressing movement by the jaws and automatic means for moving the buck away from one of the jaws after pressing.

10. In a garment forming pressing machine of the character described, a plurality of garment forming bucks, fixed and movable enclosing pressing jaws, a main carriage upon which said bucks are mounted for movement into andout of midposition between the jaws and individual auxiliary automatic buck carriages mounted on the main carriage eifective to carry a sustained buck into contact with the fixed press jaw under the influence of the movable jaw and move the buck away from said fixed jaw upon cessation of pressing force by the said movable jaw.

11. In a pressing machine, a base, spaced vertical beams made rigid with the base attheir lower ends, a tension member made rigid with the tops of the beams to define a space between the beams and beneath the tension member, opposed concaved face pressing jaws that are respectively operatively mounted on opposite vertical beams to engage a buck therebetween and react against the beams, a plurality of convexed pressing bucks that are mounted for movement into and out of registry between the jaws and displaceable rubber sheaths on the bucks to equalize pressure between the surfaces of the jaws and a buck in registry therewith.

GEORGE H. RAWLINSON. 

